Lehman moves closer

Tom Lehman will need a high finish in this week's USPGA Championship to earn an automatic place in the American Ryder Cup team. The 40-year-old had to settle for 80 points rather than an anticipated 150 when losing by a stroke to Tom Pernice in the Buick Open at Warwick Hills last Sunday.

Though he moved up three positions from 14th in the US Ryder Cup standings, Lehman is still outside the automatic places in 11th position, behind another incumbent, Jeff Maggert. Given his strong contributions to the 1995 and 1997 teams, however, it is still possible that Ben Crenshaw could name Lehman as one of his wild cards when the American team is finalised next Monday.

The 1996 British Open champion has finished runner-up in four US events this season - Bay Hill, St Jude Classic, Greater Milwaukee and now the Buick Open. But he is still hasn't fully recovered from surgery last November to have bone spurs removed from a right shoulder injury.

Pernice, who will be 40 on September 5th, set the target of 18-under-par 270 when getting up and down from a greenside bunker at the 18th to complete a closing round of 65. As it happened, Lehman was 17 under with four holes to play, but he bogeyed the 15th, birdied the long 16th and then missed birdie putts of five feet and 12 feet at the final two holes to miss out on a play-off.

"I'm thrilled to death," said Pernice, who proved it is never too late for a US Tour breakthrough with this, his first tournament victory. Indeed 1997 was the first year he earned more than $100,000 on tour, with earnings of $173,0122 for 127th place on the money list.

Much of his tournament activities in recent years were concentrated on the Nike Tour in which he had a best-place finish of fifth in the 1995 Philadelphia Open. In fact he played a total of only six events on the regular tour from 1991 to 1996 before getting through the Qualifying School at the end of that season.

Understandably, it was a highly emotional success, not least for his wife and two daughters. Indeed he carried a badge on his cap with the message "This Dad is loved a lot", taken from a Father's Day card which his daughter Kristen sent him earlier this year.